XU ZHIMO’S POEM “FAREWELL TO CAMBRIDGE” IN RUSSIAN TRANSLATIONS

Abstract

The article analyses Russian translations of “Farewell to Cambridge” (1928) – the most famous modernist poem of Xu Zhimo. The formal structure, rhymes and rhythm used by Xu Zhimo are complex and unique. The researchers show types of discrepancies that arise in translation due to differences in phonetic systems and traditions of versification. For example, in Russian version, the changing rhythm (from trochee to iambic) may correspond to the changing principles of rhyming. Translation difficulties are also associated, as an example, with differences of traditional symbols (for instance, the willow, compared in Chinese culture with a bride, may evoke different associations in Russian culture).